Alabama

Pick 'em: Week 9 college football picks

If he hadn't been suspended, Jeremiah Masoli would have been starting tomorrow for Oregon against USC. Instead, he will try to lead Ole Miss past Auburn and potentially bump his former team to No. 1 in the BCS. (The Associated Press)

Last week: 8-2

Season: 57-23

I'm back on track after a solid Week 8. Seven undefeated teams remain. Five of them have tough road tests and could create another wild Saturday -- and more headaches for my picks. Let's hear your predictions.

Auburn 34, Ole Miss 27. This is a classic danger game for the Tigers, who are playing their ninth straight game. Auburn hasn't had an easy game since Oct. 2 against Louisiana-Monroe. Kentucky, Arkansas and LSU were all four-quarter games. The Tigers' defense is getting banged up. Auburn hasn't faced a dual-threat quarterback this year like Jeremiah Masoli, who is playing better and produced a career-high 425 total yards against Arkansas last week.The problem for Ole Miss is his receivers drop too many passes. The Tigers will try to avoid being the fourth straight No. 1 team to lose. Auburn's two road games this season have been close, and so will this one against Houston Nutt. He thrives as an underdog, having taken five teams to upset of top-5 teams. The difference: Those past Nutt teams usually won at least eight games. This Nutt team will not.

Southern Miss 38, UAB 10. If this is the UAB team we've come to expect, it will get blown out a week after playing an SEC team close. The Blazers followed an overtime loss to Tennessee last month with a 35-point loss at Central Florida. Now UAB is coming off a five-point loss at Mississippi State. Southern Miss will be hungry to avenge last year's loss at Legion Field.

Oregon 48, USC 34. Sorry, I'm not buying the Trojans will actually win this game. Yes, they will be motivated like it's their Super Bowl. Yes, they are playing at home. Yes, they will be able to score points. But how exactly is USC, ranked 87th nationally in total defense and 112th vs. the pass, going to slow Oregon? USC's defense has depth issues, and that's a killer against Oregon's offense, which runs plays faster than perhaps any team this sport has seen. Lane Kiffin's game plan should be to run clock, just like he did last year at Tennessee when he kept the Florida and Alabama games close. USC's best hope is a lower-scoring game, but it's hard to see the Trojans' defense pulling that off.

Iowa 28, Michigan State 24. Sparty's undefeated season and good fortune will run out, sparing voters from deciding whether Michigan State belongs in the national championship game despite an unbalanced schedule minus Ohio State. Iowa quarterback Ricky Stanzi will make enough plays late to pull out a home win. Word of caution: If Michigan State wins, its schedule is set up to finish undefeated. This might be the Spartans' last big test.

Nebraska 31, Missouri 27. This is a tough turnaround for the Tigers, going to Lincoln after their emotional win over Oklahoma. Missouri's defense is legit. But Nebraska's defense will bend but not break against Blaine Gabbert. The winner of this game is in good position to win the Big 12 North.

Georgia 27, Florida 20. Yeah, I know Urban Meyer is 31-3 in his career when he's had more than a week to prepare for a game. But I trust Florida's offense less than I trust Georgia's defense. How's that for a way to pick the first Florida-Georgia game with both teams unranked since 1979? Georgia, with A.J. Green back and the running game clicking, is simply a better team than Florida right now.

Utah 31, Air Force 20. Will Utah be caught on the road looking ahead to TCU? If so, the Falcons are fully capable of winning this game. Utah is blowing teams out, but also has played a pretty weak schedule. My guess is Utah takes care of business thanks to superior athletes.

Stanford 44, Washington 34. Think there will be some scoring in this game in Seattle? Washington QB Jake Locker will probably have a good game with Stanford QB Andrew Luck on the other sideline. Both quarterbacks have been bandied about as the potential No. 1 NFL draft pick. Here's the thing. Washington won't be able to slow Stanford's running game, not with the Huskies down two starting defensive linemen. The Huskies are 104th nationally in rush defense and Stanford ranks 16th in rush offense.

Texas 31, Baylor 17. Guess which one of these teams is ranked? That would be Baylor. Mack Brown called out his team this week. If that doesn't wake up the Longhorns, nothing will. Baylor's No. 5 pass offense will be slowed by Texas' No. 2 pass defense. Baylor is a different team away from home, and this game is in Austin.

Oklahoma State 31, Kansas State 21. How will the Cowboys do without suspended WR Justin Blackmon, who was cited for DUI this week? They probably won't score as much. Blackmon leads the country in receiving yards per game and ranks second in catches per game. But Oklahoma State can still lean on RB Kendall Hunter, the nation's third-leading rusher.